Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S4W-06470

Asked by: Hanzala Malik, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 23 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to encourage local authorities to introduce a living wage of £7.20 per hour.

Local authorities are independent corporate bodies responsible for determining the rates of pay of their employees. It is therefore for individual local authorities to decide whether to implement the living wage.

The Scottish Government has encouraged, and will continue to encourage, all local authorities to introduce a living wage of £7.20 per hour. To date, more than half of local authorities across Scotland have either implemented or have committed to implementing the living wage, with others considering it.

Question reference: S4O-00905

Asked by: Hanzala Malik, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it provides to encourage bus travel.

Question reference: S4W-06148

Asked by: Hanzala Malik, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 26 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that all local authorities introduce a living wage of £7.20 an hour for their employees.

Question reference: S4W-06147

Asked by: Hanzala Malik, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 23 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to extend entitlement to a living wage of £7.20 an hour to employees of organisations delivering public sector contracts.

We have demonstrated our full support for the principles of the living wage in Scotland and are leading by example by implementing the living wage through our Scottish public sector pay policy. We support the wider implementation of the living wage across the private and voluntary sectors.

I have written to the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services to seek clarification on whether public bodies can make payment of a living wage a criterion in a public procurement process or a condition of a public contract in a way that is compatible with EU law.

I await receipt of that clarification.

Question reference: S4W-05442

Asked by: Hanzala Malik, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the 50 UN countries that the First Minister stated on 26 January 2012 had become "independent from London" since the Second World War (Official Report, c. 5778) and how many of these were members of the United Kingdom.

At least 50 countries who are members of the United Nations have gained independence since 1945, having previously been under full or partial British rule. They include the following:

Antigua and

Barbuda

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belize

Botswana

Brunei

Burma

Cameroon

Cyprus

Dominica

Fiji

Gambia

Ghana

Grenada

Guyana

India

Israel

Jamaica

Jordan

Kenya

Kiribati

Kuwait

Lesotho

Malawi

Malaysia

Maldives

Malta

Mauritius

Nauru

Nigeria

Pakistan

Qatar

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and

the Grenadines

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Singapore

Solomon Islands

Somalia

South Sudan

Sri Lanka

Sudan

Swaziland

Tanzania

The Bahamas

Tonga

Trinidad and Tobago

Tuvalu

Uganda

United Arab

Emirates

Vanuatu

Yemen

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Question reference: S4O-00683

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S4O-00310

Asked by: Hanzala Malik, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how it supports work on human rights education in schools, colleges and universities.

Question reference: S4O-00242

Asked by: Hanzala Malik, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 October 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to ensure that local bus services are protected during the economic downturn.

Question reference: S4W-02710

Asked by: Hanzala Malik, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 26 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures that money from the Enterprise Growth Fund earmarked for equalities groups is distributed fairly.

Question reference: S4O-00160

Asked by: Hanzala Malik, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how it promotes Scottish universities to overseas students.